Microsoft released the latest preview build 14342 for PCs for Windows Insiders running on fast ring. This build focuses on new features/enhancements and a lot of bug fixes. As it is a preview build from development branch, it also has some known and unknown issues too.

What’s new in Windows 10 Insider Preview build 14342 for PC?

Microsoft is preparing for the Windows 10 Anniversary update, which will be available in this summer. As the date is getting closer, new features, enhancements and bug fixes are coming more with the insiders build to properly test them. The following new features/enhancements are available in insiders preview build 14342:

Updates for Microsoft Edge extensions – Microsoft updated the behavior of installation of extensions in Microsoft Edge. Now you don’t have to extract & load the extensions from local folder. Instead of that, you can directly download and install from the Windows Store. If you already installed any extensions in previous build, this will be auto removed from your system. You will have to reinstall them from the store.

New extensions for Microsoft Edge – Some new extensions are now available for Microsoft Edge. If you are looking for blocking the ads in Edge, you will now be able to download the AdBlock and AdBlock Plus extensions from the store. Install either of them. Apart from these extensions, Pin It Button, Mouse Gestures, Reddit Enhancement Suite, Microsoft Translator and OneNote Web Clipper are also available.

Real time web notifications – Microsoft Edge will now support real time web notifications. This will allow the participating websites to send notifications directly to the Action Center.

Swipe Notification in Microsoft Edge – With this build, you can now swipe from anywhere on the page to get back to your previous page. This feature will come for Windows 10 Mobile with the next Mobile build.

Bash on Ubuntu Improvements – There are many new improvements for Bash on Ubuntu on Windows 10 available in this build. Some of them are Symlinks within Windows Subsystem for Linux which is now functional on mounted Windows directories, Users with non-latin usernames are now able to install bash etc.

Skype UWP Preview Update – The Skype UWP app has been updated with dark theme and ability to switch between different skype accounts.

Updated icon for Windows Ink Workspace – The icon for Windows Ink Workspace on the taskbar has been updated with a new icon.

Changes in UAC dialog control – The UAC dialog now supports the dark theme. In this build, the header color has also been changed from yellow to blue.

Enhancements to Action Center – Action Center now supports middle click to dismiss a single notification. You can also dismiss all the notifications listed for the app when middle clicked on app’s name.

Apps for Websites – Certain apps will now be able to redirect you to open the site with an app. Currently there are no such apps available but the setting for it is available under System –> Apps for websites.

Improvements on Feedback Hub – Feedback hub will now suggest you categories and subcategories based on the title and description that you entered. It will be easy for you to find the category of your feedback.

What has been fixed in Insider Preview build 14342?

Microsoft has published the list of fixes available in Windows 10 PC build 14342 and here is the list for your quick reference:

Microsoft fixed the issues blocking the Desktop App Converter Preview (Project Centennial). You can now run the converter on the Enterprise edition as well as Pro edition of Windows. You will need the latest converter and base image from here to take advantage of all the improvements which will be available later today.

Microsoft fixed the issue causing Tencent online games from not working in current builds from the Development Branch.

Microsoft fixed an issue resulting in audio crashes for users who play audio to a receiver over S/PDIF or HDMI, and use a driver that supports real-time encoding via technologies like Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect.

Polished the animation when invoking Cortana on the Lock screen. And also resolved an issue where tapping the link to fix mic issues wouldn’t fix them.

Microsoft fixed an issue resulting in the ok/cancel buttons in the network flyout being clipped on high DPI devices.

Microsoft fixed an issue where you might see Windows Hello messages on the screen while you were already logging in with a fingerprint.

Microsoft fixed the issue where if you were in an app and clicked on a link with a URL longer than 260 characters, it would bring up the “Open with…” dialog instead of opening with your default browser.

Microsoft fixed an issue resulting in not being able to use your mouse in the Photos app to either move photo while zoomed or adjust crop region.

The ALT + Y keyboard shortcut to choose “yes” now works with the updated UAC UI.

They updated new Credential UI to add support for pasting into username and password fields.

Polished icons used to identify pages in the Settings app – in particular, updated battery icon to be more consistent with the weight of the other icons.

Microsoft made some polish improvements to the Action Center and resolved an issue where icon in Taskbar wasn’t displaying correctly at 175% DPI.

Microsoft fixed an issue where the image used in Screen Sketch would be rotated 90 degrees for native portrait devices (such as the Dell Venue 8 Pro).

Also polished the experience of cropping images in Screen Sketch.

Microsoft fixed Clock and Calendar flyout issues on the taskbar with the 24-hour time format where the agenda items would display using 12-hour format instead of the 24-hour time format and certain items would be off by 12 hours.

Microsoft fixed an issue where the Clock and Calendar flyout couldn’t be dismissed by clicking on the date and time in the taskbar a second time.

They updated the “set location” notification so tapping anywhere in the notification will now enable you to set a default location.

They fixed an issue where certain shortcuts weren’t working in UWPs, for example CTRL + C, CTRL + V and ALT + Space.

Microsoft fixed an issue where tapping the battery icon wouldn’t open the Battery flyout when in Tablet Mode.

Microsoft fixed an issue where clicking elements in the Start navigation pane might result in the Store opening instead.

They fixed an issue where background audio tasks might show up in the volume controls.

They added a “Clear Input History” option to the IME Settings page.

They fixed an issue where doing an action on a file in a folder pinned to Quick Access after using the address bar to get there might result in File Explorer unexpectedly navigating to Quick Access.

Microsoft fixed an issue resulting in Cortana crashing if you shared an avatar with Cortana from the Xbox Avatars app.

Microsoft fixed an issue causing the search box on the Language Settings page to not work.

What are the known issues in Insider Preview build 14342?

It’s a build directly published from development branch of Windows 10 and still available as insiders preview build. As it’s not yet a finished product, it still has some known issues which will be fixed in future builds and come with the final build targeting Anniversary Update, this summer.

Checkout the known issues listed here before you start upgrading to this build. In case you are uncomfortable or if you think that the following issues can impact your work, we suggest you to switch to Slow Ring and wait until a stable release comes up in future.

Feedback Hub is not localized and the UI will be in English (U.S.) only, even with language packs installed.

Feedback Hub takes about 20-30 minutes after updating to this build to download and populate itself if launched from Start. If you launch Feedback Hub from All apps – it will force the app to hydrate.

The QQ app from Tencent crashes. Microsoft is currently working on a fix for the issue.

If you are using a non-English keyboard, you can’t accept Bash prompts.

Microsoft team is investigating an issue where if you’re running Insider Preview builds in certain languages, the All apps list on Start appears empty. A workaround for this is to use search to launch apps.

You may see square boxes in certain apps when using some of the new emoji – Microsoft is still getting things set up, this will be resolved in a future build.

Are you going to install this build? What’s your opinion about the features and enhancements coming with this build? Checkout my other posts on Windows 10 Tips & Tricks series and share your feedback.

If you have come this far, it means that you liked what you are reading. Why not reach little more and connect with me directly on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn. I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on my articles directly. Also, don't forget to share your views and/or feedback in the comment section below.

About Me

Kunal Chowdhury is a Windows Platform Development MVP of Microsoft, a Telerik MVP, Nokia Developer Champion, Speaker in various Microsoft events, Author, passionate Blogger and a Software Engineer by profession.